£10m scheme launched to help young Londoners find work

A new £10 million scheme is being launched to help long-term unemployed young people in London find work.

London Youth, a network of over 400 community youth organisations, said the money from the Big Lottery Fund will be used over the next five years to support 18 to 24-year-olds in the capital into training or jobs, under a programme called Talent Match.

The announcement came as research by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI) found that almost 35,000 young people in London are facing "severe barriers" to work by not accessing any training or forms of support.

The study also showed that up to 30% of young people in London boroughs who are unemployed and outside education have some form of disability, and over a fifth have caring responsibilities.

Rosie Ferguson, chief executive of London Youth, said: "The young people we work with across London consistently tell us that they want to learn new skills and have opportunities for fulfilling careers, but too often they struggle to find the right path. The shocking numbers revealed by the CESI study are yet more evidence of young people missing out."

Nat Sloane of the Big Lottery Fund, said: "Youth unemployment is an issue that threatens the hopes of an entire generation as well as our whole economic well being.

"Talent Match promises to help the very hardest to reach young people to make the most of their skills and ambitions, not just as an end goal, but by giving them a say in how the programme itself is designed and put into practice."